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What Was "The Thing"? (The Cold War)

2 minutes 31 seconds

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Slide shows a brown circle with a detailed drawing in the background of blue highlighted text that reads, "What was The Thing? The Cold War."

"The Thing" was one of the first covert listening devices to use passive techniques to transmit an audio signal. It was concealed inside a gift given by the Soviet Union to W. Averell Harriman, the United States Ambassador to the Soviet Union, on August 4, 1945.

Media Details

Runtime: 2 minutes 31 seconds

Topic: Geography, History, Social Science
Subtopic: Government, Russia, U.S. History - 1934-1945
Grade/Interest Level: 6 - 12
Standards:

Release Year: 2018
Producer/Distributor: Simple History
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Digital collage. Superimposed heads of James Madison and Thomas Jefferson on the bodies of 2 men with arms around each other. Text overlay reads, "B, F, Fs 4 eva." Caption. His best friend was Thomas Jefferson.

Digital collage with James Monroe wrapped in an American flag and a number 1 foam hand that reads, "U, S, A." Black and white image of crowd waving American flags in background. Caption. His presidency was called the Era of Good Feelings.

Digital collage. John Adams' head superimposed on Christmas elf's body standing in front of Massachusetts State House. Speech bubble reads, "Go Sawks!" Caption. Female as narrator. John Adams was a grumpy, frumpy principled lawyer from Boston.

Painting of Thomas Jefferson with an exaggerated head. He stands in a room filled with men, some surrounding a table with books and papers. Speech bubble reads, "Take that King George!" Caption. Tom took the lead on the Declaration of Independence.

Dark frame shows a shadowy figure standing indoors. Text at the bottom of the frame reads, "Reenactment."

Black and white portrait of Thomas Jefferson. Caption. Among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Closeup of weathered Constitution on parchment with handwritten script that reads, "We the people," in large script at top.

Black and white photo of Abraham Lincoln wearing a top hat and flanked by men in uniform. Large tent and trees in background.

Mottled black and white photo of 3 Native Americans with white tipis in background.

Black and white illustration of early 20th century woman with her arm raised to the side. She faces a man in a top hat as he leans toward her with his hand up. Another man reclines and opens his mouth as if shouting in background.